"I can trade you Quenching Spirit Liquid for it, how about that?"
The Quenching Spirit Liquid was the only valuable thing Shen Han had on hand.
Wen Tingting, however, smiled. "Do I look like I'm short on money or resources? But… if you tell me your Space Element Rank, I can help you this one time."
"B Rank."
"Indeed. It seems you are Wang Gang. Your taste is quite good. Where did you learn all this?"
Thinking of "Wang Gang's" appearance, Wen Tingting laughed so hard she could barely stand straight.
"Damn, you tricked me," Shen Han's old face flushed, feeling he was still too green.
"How is it a trick? I guessed it early on. The perfume scent on you right now is exactly the same as Wang Gang's."
He had been careless.
Seeing his embarrassment, Wen Tingting stopped teasing him and said seriously, "I can help you hide one Special Ability. Our Family has a potion that can mask one Special Ability star. However, you'll have to think carefully about how to explain the Rank increase of your other Special Abilities."
Shen Han was stunned. This was indeed a tricky problem. If his Lightning Element rose to SS Rank and his Dark Element reached S Rank, anyone would immediately connect it to the "Wang Gang" incident. Moreover, once linked to Wang Gang, his Space Element would also be exposed.
Wen Tingting sighed softly, "Never mind, I'll be a good person to the end. I can also give you a bottle of 'Spirit Binding Powder,' which gangs and cults often use to scheme against people. It can temporarily lower all Special Ability Ranks by one, and the Seal effect lasts for about two hours. I'll bring it to you with the other one."
"You're helping me so much, I'm almost embarrassed." Shen Han was overjoyed to hear this.
Shen Han was visibly excited. With this suppression, explaining his Lightning Element S Rank and Dark Element A Rank would be much easier. He could just say it was the effect of a heaven marrow fruit traded from elsewhere, and others wouldn't be able to say anything. They couldn't exactly drag Wang Gang to confront him, could they?
"You, embarrassed? In the future, our Family might need to borrow your Space-based ability to accomplish some things. Just don't decline then," Wen Tingting chuckled.
"Certainly. However, my Space Element only has the Teleportation skill. I wonder if your Family could sponsor other Space skills?" Shen Han asked with a mischievous grin.
"Those are Space Element skills, they're all sky-high prices. How could a small Family like ours possibly have them?"
Wen Tingting gave him a helpless glare.
After bidding farewell to Wen Tingting, Shen Han returned home and began meditation training to improve his Mental Energy. With the help of 10 bottles of Quenching Spirit Liquid, he was confident he could advance two more stages before the National Higher Education Entrance Examination.
Two days later, Wen Tingting delivered the two potions as promised.
"The colorless one is 'Breath Concealing Powder,' which can help you hide one Special Ability from detection machines for about an hour. The light blue one is 'Spirit Binding Powder,' which, when taken, temporarily lowers all Special Ability Ranks by one. Its effect also lasts for about one or two hours. Use them carefully, and don't let them affect your National Higher Education Entrance Examination results."
Over the next two months, Shen Han dedicated all his time and energy to Cultivating Mental Energy. He also went to the Shadowed Forest to carry out hunting missions, devouring exotic beasts to enhance his Mental Energy.
With less than half a month left until the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, he finally pushed his cultivation to Martial Spirit Fourth Realm.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 2291 / 2600 (Martial Spirit Fourth Realm)
Special Ability Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - SS Rank, Dark Element - S Rank, Fire Element - S Rank, Space Element - B Rank, Ice Element - E Rank, Wood Element - B Rank
Shen Han secretly analyzed the current power structure. The Lu Family brothers from the provincial capital and Luo Tingyun were making rapid progress. At a normal Cultivation speed, they should have entered the Martial Spirit Fourth Realm, and Lu Yanlin might even have reached the Martial Spirit Fifth Realm.
Even if he gave his all in the Mental Energy subject, it would be difficult to stand out among these top Geniuses.
As for Special Ability Ranks, the Lu Family brothers and Luo Tingyun were already SS Rank, while Shen Han could only outwardly display S Rank at most, giving him no advantage in this aspect either.
This meant that to achieve a good ranking in Nanjiang Province, he had to score higher in the second round of practical combat during the Martial Arts National Higher Education Entrance Examination.
The day before the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, at the training ground of Yang City's No. 5 High School, Principal Wang Siyuan was giving the current batch of students their final pep talk.
"Train for a thousand days, use in one day; your National Higher Education Entrance Examination is tomorrow. There's no need to be overly nervous; achieving your usual performance is already a success."
This Martial Arts National Higher Education Entrance Examination was divided into two days. The first day was for testing Mental Energy and Special Ability Ranks. The Mental Energy score would be part of the final National Higher Education Entrance Examination grade, while Special Ability Ranks would serve as a reference for future major applications and would not be included in the total score.
There was no need to be nervous on the first day. Whatever scores were measured recently, apart from being more precise, wouldn't differ much from usual.
The second day was the practical combat portion, and its score accounted for 70% of the Martial Arts National Higher Education Entrance Examination. The specific content was largely similar to previous years: entering a specially made Secret Realm to hunt exotic beasts… First Day of the National Higher Education Entrance Examination.
Finally, the moment of destiny arrived. The annual National Higher Education Entrance Examination began as scheduled.
It was almost identical to his previous life, with serious, tense gazes everywhere and anxious parents waiting.
The difference was that this was the Martial Arts National Higher Education Entrance Examination, the choice for the vast majority of people who had already Awakened as Martial Artists.
After all, this was a world where martial arts reigned supreme, and achieving high scores in the Martial Arts section meant stepping onto a better path in life.
The content of the first day's Martial Arts exam was the Mental Energy and Special Ability Rank tests conducted by the invigilation team, dispatched by the Nanjiang Province Education Bureau, for candidates from each school. Students from Yang City's five high schools lined up at their respective schools, waiting by exam number for their turn to be tested.
What was exciting was that the results were displayed live on the big screen in the training ground.
Each school would have a large screen, and the results would be arranged in descending order.
When all students' scores were released, the scores from all schools would be aggregated in the provincial capital, and within about half an hour, the provincial ranking could be given on the spot.
Of course, due to screen space limitations, only the top 200 in the province could appear on the big screen.
[Lü Ziming, Mental Energy 781, Martial Master Sixth Realm, B Rank Metal Element Talent]
When the first candidate completed the test, the big screen in the training ground simultaneously updated with his results.
[Zhu Yunzheng, Mental Energy 738, Martial Master Fifth Realm, C Rank Fire Element Talent]
[Li Muhua, Mental Energy 693, Martial Master Fourth Realm, E Rank Wind Element Talent]
...[Song Ziqing, Mental Energy 980, Martial Master Ninth Realm, B Rank Wood Element Talent]
...[Wen Tingting, Mental Energy 1502, Martial Spirit Second Realm, A Rank Water Element Talent, B Rank Wood Element Talent]
As soon as Wen Tingting's results were announced, she immediately shot to first place in No. 5 High School, and a "Whoosh!" of discussion erupted below.
"This is probably the highest score in our school, right?"
"Two Special Abilities, she's already an Intermediate Martial Artist."
"Martial Spirit Second Realm! She'll probably have a good ranking in the entire province. Top 200 should be possible, right?"
"Shen Han hasn't tested yet, why the rush? Maybe his score will be even higher."